Holding apparatus for testing cable



. 5, 1952 o. G. NELSON 2,584,282

HOLDING APPARATUS FOR TESTING CABLES Filed April 4, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l 9 Lin 23 V/a 2m 80 39 7 ll lrl mr-l! v I/ r M I II 40 i I g I NVENTOR O.G. NELSON ATTORNEY Feb. 5, 1952 Q NELSON 2,584,282

HOLDING APPARATUS FOR TESTING CABLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 4, 1944 INVENTOR 0,6. NELSO ATTORNEY 5, 1952 o. G. NELSON 2,584,282

HOLDING APPARATUS FOR TESTING CABLES Filed April 4, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nmlw I 2;; 4O

/NVEN TOR O. 6. NE L 5 ON ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1952 UNIT-so STATES PATENT OFFICE .Oscar .G. Nelson, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Western-Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y.., a corporation of .New York Application April 1944, Serial N0.'529,51'8

1 claim. (01. 24-415) This invention relates to apparatus for'holding the supporting means.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for holding articles.-

One type of apparatus embodying the invention comprises a snubber having a non-angular considerable tension.

surface thereon and a clamp adjacent to one end of the snubber for holding a cable placed on thenon-angular surface. r A complete understanding of the inventionmay be obtained from the following detailed 'description of a specified embodiment "thereof when read in conjunction with which the appended drawings, in

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary, vertical'view in partial section of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1; p Fig. 4 is an enlarged, vertical section taken along line 4- 4'of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevation of a portion -of the apparatus;

Fig.7 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of theapparatus;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the apparatus, and

Fig. 10 is a reduced, fragmentary rear elevation of a portion of the apparatus.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, two inverted V frames ill-l '(Fig. 10) support a cross bar I I which supports a conventional fluid actuated lifting device. The lifting device" is provided with a cylinder :3 in which is mounted a piston I4. The cylinder may be supplied with a suitable actuating fluid, such as air, by cone ventional means including a pipe l2 to move ;the piston up or down at the willgof an operator A rod 23 is secured to the piston I 4 and ergtends upwardly from the cylinder. A crosshead I is secured to the upper end of the rod '23 and may be moved upwardly with the piston when the actuating fluid is supplied to the lower por- I I tion of the cylinder '33 or downwardly when the lower portion of the-cylinder is exhausted. Two rods Iii-46 (F-lg. are fastened to the cross head l5 and a yoke I I is secured to the lower ends of the rods. A similar iiuid actuated lifting device is disclosed in Patent No. 2,446,820 issued August 10, 1 948.

A clamping unit 18 (Figs. 8 and 9') is secured to the yoke I?! and includes a semicircular snubber i9 having an arcuate groove 20 formed in the periphery thereof. One end of the groove is aligned with ano'tch 24 formed in the yoke ll, viewed in Fig. '8. A bracket 22, fastened to the snubocr i9 and the yoke H, serves to hingedly support a pair of jaws 25 and 26. The jaws 25 and 26 have passages 21-41 formed therein in which a pair of inserts '38-30, having wedged-shaped surfaces '3l--3 l (Fig. 4) formed thereon, are secured by bolts 29- 29. The passages 21-21 have wedge-shaped surfaces 28- 28 formed therein. The bolts 23- 29 project through slots 33-43 formed in the jaws '25 and 26, thereby permitting the inserts 30-40 ito'be slid upwardly or downwardly in the passages .2 T- 21. As the inserts are slid upwardly, as viewed in Fig. 4, the wedge-shaped surfaces 3l-3-l areengaged by the wedge-shaped surfaces 2828, whereby each insert is thrust toward the other insert.

The inserts til -30 (Figs. 3 and 4), which form a part of the clamping 'unit 18, have complementary semicircular grooves 32-42 formed therein in which elongated, semicylindricai grippers "35 35, composed of a rubber or some other resilient composition, are molded. Bibs 3%3'6 formed on the jaws 25 and 2-6 project into the grooves 32-32 and lit into slots 3l-3-l formed in the grippers 35 -35 to hold the grippers 35-35 against longitudinal movement with respect to the inserts 30- 30.

The jaws 25 and 28 (Fig. 5) have slots 38 and 39, respectively, formed therein. One end-of a latch 40 is pivotally mounted in the slot 38 and the free end thereof has an eccentric cam 4i ro tatably secured thereon. A handle 42 (Fig. 3) secured to the cam 4| serves to rotate the cam with respect to the latch 40. Thus, when the jaws 25 and 26 are swung together, as shown in Fig. 3, the latch 40 is swung into the slot 39 and the cam 4| turned to lock the jaws 25 and 26 in an abutting cooperative relationship, whereby the grippers 3535 serve to frictionally grip a cable 43 positioned in the groove 20. I

I A weight 45 (Figs. 1 and 7) has a post 46 projecting therefrom to which post a plate 41 is 3 welded. The weight 45 is slidably mounted in a guard 48. A clamping unit 49, which is identical with the clamping unit 18, is secured to the plate 41 in inverted relationship with respect to the clamping unit 18. The clamping unit 49 is designed to frictionally grip an end of the cable 43 in a manner similar to that in which the clamping unit l8 grips the cable.

In the operation of the apparatus, the upper end of the cable 43, as viewed in Fig. 1, having 8. splice 57 to be tested while under tension, is placed in the groove 20 of the snubber I9. The jaws 25 and 26 are closed on the cable, the latch 40 is swung to the position, shown in Fig. 3, and the cam 4| is rotated to the position shown in Fig. 3 to force the grippers 35--35 into close frictional engagement with the cable 43. The grippers 35-35 form a cylindrical passage which is directly below the right end of the arcuate groove 20, as viewed in Fig. 9, and grip the cable 43 securely therebetween. ,The cable 43 then is drawn under the clamping unit 49, is tightened, and is clamped by the unit 49 in the position shown in Fig. 1. A

The ends of the cable 43 then are connected to a suitable test set (not shown) and the actuating fluid is supplied to the cylinder (not-shown),- whereby the piston thereof is forced upwardly to raise the yoke l7 and the clamping unit l8. As the unit I8 is raised, the cable 43 is drawn upwardly to raise the weight, 45 in the guard 48, whereby the splice 51 of the cable is placed under tension. The guard 48 prevents anyone from placing his foot under the weight 45 when the weight is raised. The center line of the cable coincides with the center of gravity of the combined mass of the weight 4 5,the post 46, the plate 41, and the clamping unit 49. Thus, the weight 45 and the elements associated therewith are in horizontal positions when suspended. The test set then is operated to test the cable while the splice is under tension, after which the piston is lowered to return the cable 43 and. the weight 45 tothe position shown in Fig. 1, and the cable is unclamped to free the apparatus for another similar testing operation.

The'groove 20 formed .in the snubber,l9, provides a relatively long surfacewhich frictionally engages the cable 43 during the testing operation and the inserts 30 4-30 are drawn upwardly,

as viewed in Fig. 4, when the cable is placed under tension. As the inserts 3030 are pulled upwardly, as viewed" in Fig. 4, the wedge-shaped surfaces 28-28 and 3'l'-3I force the inserts 30-30 toward each other, whereby the grippers quiring a relatively small amount of force fromthe grippers 3535 to hold the cable. The grip- 4 pers 35--35 grip the cable 43 by only long, resilient surfaces. Thus, the grippers do not dig in or damage the cable while gripping it securely. The clamping unit 49 grips the cable in a manner similar to that just described.

What is claimed is:

In a unitary device for snubbing and clamping an electric cable without damage, the combination of an arcuate snubber having on its curved periphery a groove for receiving a bight of the cable, a bracket secured to the sn-ubber'and having an opening spaced from the snubber, a pair of clamping jaws pivotally and hingedly positioned within said opening in the bracket, a pair of inserts attached to the jaws and having complementary grooves formed therein, means for closing the jaws and the inserts to frictionally clamp a cable, a pin secured in the bracket about which the jaws hinge and pivot as a unit to bring the complementary grooves thereof into alignment with said groove in the arcuate snubber, said pin being parallel to a tangent of the snubher at the end adjacent the clamping jaws, and said jaws each having a projecting portion to contact the snubber to prevent bendingof the jaws when tension is applied to the cable clamped therein.

OSCAR G. NELSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 455,547 Morgan, Jr. July 7, 1891 549,774 Forst Nov. 12, 1895 640,416 Rigsby Jan. 2, 1900 696,748 Rigsby Apr. 1, 1902 940,285 Scruggs Nov. 16, 1909 1,012,328 Cope Dec. 19, 1911 1,-229,302- McDonald June 12, 1917 1,229,408 Bullum June 12, 1917- 1,282,-643- Scott Oct. 22, 1918 1,456,237 Hough- May'22, 1923 1,499,546 Oxley' July 1, 1924 1,512,491 Scott Oct. 21, 1924 1,525,122 Ericsson Feb. 3, 1925 1,562,568 Lindquist -1 Nov. 24, 1925 1,661,045 Lee Feb. 28, 1928 1,872,047 Templin Aug. 16, 1932 1,885,855 Moran Nov. 1, 1932 1,945,438 Landahl Jan. 30, 1934 2,002,977 Carr May 28, 1935 2,157,092 Allen et a1 May 9, 1939 2,187,345 Dinzl Jan. 16, 1940 2,327,139 Scott Aug. 17, 1943 2,349,520 Ripley May- 23, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 955 Great Britain 1892 3,293 Great Britain 1877 593,742

Germany Feb. 15, 1924 

